File Folder Games for Toddlers
File folder games can be excellent teaching tools that are easy for you to store, fun for kids to play and effective at reinforcing important concepts and skills. These games are created by printing an activity sheet--there are lots of options available free online--and gluing it inside a plain manila file folder. Put game pieces inside an envelope or plastic bag and affix it to the other side of the file folder. Game pieces and file folders can be made more durable by running them through a laminator or by using clear contact paper to seal them. Use these ideas as a springboard to come up with games of your own.
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Perfect Pies
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Print out pies of the different colors you want the child to be practicing. It is suggested you use no less than five but no more than 10. You will need two of each pie. Cut out the pies, affixing one of each color to the file folder and placing the other in the game piece envelope. To play, children simply match the pies. For more advanced children, you can replace the pie game pieces with color words.
Star Counter
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Buy a package of star-shaped stickers, and affix them in groups on the inside of the file folder. Then, using the computer, generate big stars that have the numbers that correspond with those groups written on them. For example, if you have a group of seven stars in the folder, you will need a big star that has the number 7 on it. The big stars should then be cut out and placed in their game piece folder. To play, children match groupings with the number that represents them.
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Penguin Family
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Print two or three large cartoonish penguins off. On the belly of each, type or use a marker to write the last letters of a word family. For example, you might write " __ ap". Then print a number of smaller matching penguins, and write beginning letters or letter groups that will create words in that family. For the "ap" family, these little penguins might be labeled "c, m, r, sn, n, cl, c" etc. You can also leave some little penguins blank. Students can write on these, after lamination, with a dry erase marker, in order to make the game more advanced. The goal of the game is to try to make the most words possible in the word family.
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